“The facility is designed with the patient in mind. We offer robust primary care and ob-gyn services and introduce urgent care to the community,” says Samuel Santoro, D.O., president of the East Bay Physicians Medical Group.

The 28,000-square-foot building has been completely remodeled to accommodate 19 OB-Gyns, four pediatricians and four family medicine doctors from offices elsewhere in Berkeley.

Building highlights include:

Urgent Care open 5-9p.m. Monday through Friday and 10a.m.-2 p.m. weekends and holidays.

Q: I take medication for my heartburn, but lately it isn’t as effective. Why do I keep getting heartburn and what else can I do to relieve the symptoms?

A: Imagine a room in your house is on fire and the alarm goes off, but instead of calling 911, you remove the batteries from the annoying alarm.

Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who take medication to ease heartburn are essentially shutting down their bodies’ alarm system.

Drugs work great for symptom control, to decrease acidity in the stomach. But in many patients, they mask the real problem.

Serious complications can develop, from osteoporosis as a side-effect of long-term medication use to esophageal cancer, which is a growing epidemic in the United States.

GERD is a disease of anatomy. It’s important to have a full work-up from an esophageal specialist. That includes endoscopy, biopsy, measurement of the volume of reflux and an internal pressure test.

Depending on the results, surgery may be an option. Implantation of a LINX® magnetic ring is a minimally invasive surgery I often perform. The ring is designed to augment the weak lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to help prevent acid and bile reflux from the stomach into the esophagus.

How LINX® works

A small, flexible band of magnets is enclosed in titanium beads. Titanium wires connect the beads.

The magnetic attraction between the beads is designed to help keep the weak LES closed to prevent reflux.

The movement of swallowing temporarily breaks the magnetic bond, allowing food and liquid to pass into the stomach.

Magnetic attraction closes the LES after swallowing to reinforce the body’s natural barrier to reflux.

Signs of GERD

You may be suffering from GERD if you have any of these symptoms:

Trouble swallowing starchy foods, which stick in the esophagus, turning into sticky goo that traps other food.

Painful esophageal spasms that can mimic a heart attack.

Abdominal pain while exercising; workouts can put pressure on the abdomen, causing pain and discomfort.

Occasional difficulty breathing. Reflux can be breathed into the lungs.

Sutter Health is sponsoring the premier airing of a new Ken Burns production on local public television station KQED. The documentary is based on the best-selling book: Cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, and airs March 30, 31 and April 1.

On March 31, Rajesh Behl, M.D., Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation and Alta Bates Summit Comprehensive Cancer Center oncologist, will join Sutter colleagues in a live Twitter chat with viewers from 9-10 p.m. during the broadcast on @SutterHealth using #CancerFilmQA.

Join the conversation and learn more about the disease that touches nearly everyone in some way.

Sutter Health Live Twitter Chat:

Sutter Health’s East Bay affiliates support the 2015 March for Babies Campaign – including the March for Babies, Saturday, April 25, at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

Since 1998, Sutter Health has collaborated with March of Dimes. All contributions fund lifesaving research into preventing premature births, plus programs giving hope and help to families.

“Every day, more than 1,400 babies in the U.S. are born prematurely and these babies face an increased risk of serious medical conditions,” says Chuck Prosper, Bay Area March of Dimes board member and Alta Bates Summit CEO.

Three Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation Urgent Care clinics are up and running and expanding services.

The Urgent Care at 2500 Milvia Street in Berkeley opened Jan. 26, joining clinics in Antioch and Castro Valley to serve patients of all ages. Together the clinics care for more than 1000 patients each month.

“Our patients are so happy we’re open,” says Jeff Leinen, M.D., SEBMF urgent care medical director. “They are grateful to have a place where they can get episodic urgent care. If not for urgent care, they have to go to the Emergency Department.”